Private Investigation and Mental Health

Mental Health is a significant factor in the Private Investigation industry, in relation to Private Investigators themselves as well as in relation to dealing with clients.

The issues surrounding mental health and Private Investigation (in an initial basic viewpoint) is two-fold. The first being issues relating to the mental health of the Private Investigator and the second relates to the ability to spot possible mental health issues in our clients. Both of these areas divide again into day to day mental health issues and then possible impact on mental health arising from certain types of cases. Here I will give an overview of these aspects in this blog, however, this topic is quite extensive and so this primary article will touch on the main areas without diving too deeply.

Private Investigator Mental Health on a Day to Day Basis.

A Private Investigator needs to be many things and one of the lesser considered traits that a Private Investigator needs to have is sound mental health.

While many consider the work of a Private Investigator to be exciting and filled with shadows and mystery, the truth is that the work is often much more mundane and conducted in isolation for extended periods of time. It can be a very lonely job. We are frequently unable to talk about our work, the work can be very stressful, has a lot of responsibility attached to it, requires an extremely high level of focus that must be maintained for very extended periods of time and some cases can have a traumatic mental effect.

If a Private Investigator lives alone, spending day after day sitting alone in a vehicle conducting observations only to return home to an empty house can have an impact on mental health. Considering that due to working hours, it is likely that this isolation will have to remain unbroken as surveillance can involve a lengthy circle of sleep, drive, observe, drive sleep and (I personally) avoid unnecessary communications during the course of surveillance (and driving) as they are distracting, which leaves the Investigator's only free time in which to speak to friends and family at unsociable times of the day, which may not be viable.

If a Private Investigator has a partner/flatmate/family or friend that will be there when they get home, this can help but it is not always an option and thus can not be relied upon. It is simply an absolute impossibility to work as a Private Investigator and not have the mental capacity to be alone for most of the working day and to personally manage ones own mental health on a day to day basis.

As human beings, social interaction is very important. We gain a sense of safety, belonging, reassurance and security from it. A private investigator needs to be able to rely on themselves to a much greater extent as these factors have to come from an internal place rather than from others. Unless the original starting point is one of sound mental health, the Investigator will fail very quickly.

The final point (in this blog) from the perspective of a working Private Investigator is the ability to quickly and accurately recognize arising possible mental health issues in oneself. The ability to step outside yourself and truthfully see and more importantly acknowledge and actively manage mental issues if and when they arise is another trait that not everybody has but is essential to have in the role of a Private Investigator.

The impact of a case (or client) on a Private Investigator.

Over the years there have been a number of cases that have stayed with me due to the impact they had. There have also been cases/clients that have needed a strong and stable mind to manage them.

I have images in my head that will never fade and have had to take action (such as a walk in the forest) to reground myself and put things in their correct place in my mind. If I was not fortunate enough to have good, strong, sound mental health, I would not be able to be a Private Investigator. Luckily for me, a walk in the forest is all it takes for me to be able to sort things out but this is not true for many others.

The work can be stressful in both its execution as well as dealing with clients and this can have an effect at the end of the working day (or night)

While the satisfaction of completing a case and a job well done can counteract a negative impact on mental health, this only happens at the conclusion of the case and must be managed during the course of the investigation which can take a lot of energy. The ability to separate oneself from the case can be difficult as it is often essential to be deeply involved in the work to achieve a good result. Furthermore, as client confidentiality is of utmost importance, these stresses and strains often have to be managed alone.

A lesser considered factor in regard to Private Investigation work is that our world involves being witness to a disproportionate amount of deception and betrayal, dealing with often emotionally over-wrought clients, crime, and so on, on a daily basis and being able to continue being a witness to but not a part of all of this isn't always easy. If a Private Investigator has any seeds of possible mental health issues, these could be triggered and indeed heightened, then grow by this kind of work and so recognizing and dealing with this is also important.

Our client base, by its nature, consists of people who are dealing with a problem of one sort or another. Clients can be emotional and stressed out as well as a whole host of other things and a Private Investigator will find a lot of that energy pushed in their direction, whether its manifestation is, for example, in the form of unnecessary and constant communications at inappropriate times or emotionally offloading in our direction, maintaining solid boundaries, while not always easy, is a necessary part of preserving our own mental health.

Mental health issues and the client.

This divides into two basic areas, namely the impact of the case on the client and existing mental health issues the client is experiencing.

As previously mentioned, by the very nature of our work, the majority of a Private Investigators' client base is made up of people who have some sort of problem to solve. These issues are more often than not, having a strong emotional effect on the client and the resolution of their case may have a further and significant effect for them emotionally and in turn, on their mental health.

It is key to be mindful of this as an investigator and whilst exercising honesty and truth with the client, one must also be compassionate and sensitive to these areas.

Using a matrimonial investigation as an example, the suspicion of betrayal is, without question, going to have a huge emotional effect in itself. And the resolution of the case by way of confirming the suspected infidelity, can have a domino effect such as the instigation of divorce proceedings, which in turn, can raise issues of child custody, housing, financial management problems, and so on.

Due to this, the emotional response is likely to be strong, leading to a significant increase in stress levels, a possible drop in self-confidence, feelings of insecurity, and mistrust of others etc. All or any of these factors can have a marked effected on the mental health of the client and so a careful, sensitive but honest communication path must be taken.

Real Life Example:

In the past, I have presented potential clients with two options. An example would be a lady who told me that she was sure of her husbands infidelity and was, without question, about to instigate divorce proceedings. She did not want proof of infidelity, what she wanted was a photograph of the third party. She wanted to know what the "other woman looked like" I told her that while I had no problem taking her case and providing her with that photo, I would like her to reconfirm that she still wanted this photo in 3 days time, in which case I would go and take those pictures, but before I did that, I wanted her to consider that upon seeing the photo, she would look at the "other woman" and think to herself "She is less attractive than me. What has she go that I haven't?" OR "I am more attractive than her, what has she got that I haven't?" Either way, the effect on her would likely be negative and actually serve her no purpose or benefit her in any way whatsoever and so I asked her to think about that and if in three days, she still wanted me to go and take the photos, I would. She took my advice to save her money and instead spend it on building a new home/life for her and her children)

Note: While this approach may come in for criticism for I am not a counselor, I do feel it is part of my job to take the most honest and ethical approach to my work and present these (perhaps unconsidered) choices to potential clients regardless of business I may lose)

Clients with existing Mental Health Issues.

This is a topic that I think I will write an additional blog about as I would like to discuss this further than I will do here. In this blog I will just give a general overview of the issues surrounding this topic.

Mental Health issues take different forms and therefore manifest in different ways and it is not always possible to spot straight away.

Due to the nature of our work, it is quite common for us to be contacted for work by people suffering from mental health problems and while sometimes it is easy to see, at other times it can take a while. As a Private Investigator, I think that is wise to start any investigation with an initial investigation of the client themselves. By doing this mental health issues can sometimes be highlighted a little faster.

Determining if someone has mental health issues, (remember that we are not doctors and so this is based on our experience gained over the years) perhaps surprisingly, does not necessarily mean that I will not be taking the case. It really depends on what the mental health issue actually is and how severe it is. Each case and each client is unique and should be judged individually but the first moral/ethical obligation of any Private Investigator should be to make their own ethical and not financial judgment of whether taking the case is the right thing to do.

This is quite an extensive topic the deserves a more in-depth look and so I shall be writing a further blog about this issue.

I have included a couple of links here that may be helpful to people suffering from mental health issues. You are not alone and there is help out there.

www.samaritans.org

www.mind.org

Written by a Private Investigator at www.investigatecz.com